Collaboration

The Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies at the University of Texas Health in San Antonio illustrates the pivotal role location plays in enhancing the success of an internationally recognized research program. The Institute previously occupied two buildings at a research park 23 miles from the university’s main campus. University administrators wanted to collocate all research on the same campus to promote multidisciplinary collaboration and interaction, with proximity to all clinical research activities, and to promote efficiency and the shared use of resources. 

After a 2017 fire sped up the timeline for construction of a new science building, University of Delaware faculty and staff needed to make hard choices about how the building should be organized and what features and facilities it should include. Politically, the easiest path would have been to divide the space by department, but Peter Krawchyk, the university’s vice president of facilities and university architect, had a different idea of how to make the decision, one he argued would work better: “We didn’t begin with any kind of programming—number of principal investigators, fume hood counts, or anything like that. We began with ideas and culture.” 

The University of Salford will begin construction in October of 2024 on a new building for the School of Health and Society in the United Kingdom. Designed by AHR Architects, the 60,000-sf facility will optimize medical outcomes in the greater Manchester region by accelerating the recruitment, education, and training of the next generation of caregivers. The state-of-the-art instructional hub will offer three floors of teaching and clinical space for courses ranging from occupational therapy to sports science.

Scripps Research Institute opened the Chi-Huey Wong Laboratories for Biomedical Research in August of 2024. Creating a new gateway to the La Jolla campus, the 83,000-sf structure provides leading-edge environments for drug discovery and development. DGA was the architect for the collaborative facility, which features interconnected open laboratories and a double-height lobby.

The University of Tennessee opened the $93 million Agriculture and Natural Resources Building in Knoxville in August of 2024. The four-story, 161,862-gsf facility provides the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources with both interdisciplinary and specialized lab environments for teaching, research, and public service. Designed by Barber McMurry Architects and Lord Aeck Sargent, the four-story development includes 25 labs, 11 flexible classrooms, lecture halls, and offices.

The University of Mississippi completed construction in August of 2024 on the $175 million Jim and Thomas Duff Center for Science and Technology Innovation in Oxford. The 202,000-sf facility provides student-centered learning environments for STEM programs in biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and computer science. Featuring 50 technology-enabled active learning (TEAL) classrooms, the building offers teaching labs, lecture halls, a 3D visualization suite, a tutoring center, and a soaring central atrium.

Attovia Therapeutics is relocating to 26,000 sf at Brittan West, a recently completed life sciences center in San Carlos, Calif. JLL acted as leasing agent for the facility, which will enable the company to expand its research activities and accelerate the creation of novel biotherapeutics for immune-mediated diseases. Access to world-class amenities will enhance collaboration and optimize the employee experience.

The University of California, San Diego will begin construction on the Multidisciplinary Life Sciences Building in fall of 2024. Designed by Flad Architects, the 200,000-sf project will be the first campus development that collocates health science research with biological science research and teaching. The multiuse facility advances the university's goal of fostering unprecedented inter-unit partnerships.

Virginia Tech opened the $70 million Undergraduate Science Laboratory Building in Blacksburg in August of 2024. ZGF Architects designed the flexible and adaptable facility to address the current and future needs of the College of Science, the College of Engineering, the College of Natural Resources and Environment, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Offering 26 wet, dry, and specialty labs, the four-story, 102,746-gsf structure features a maker space with both wet and dry functionality called the Discovery Suite.

St. John's University will open the St. Vincent Health Sciences Center in September of 2024 on the Queens campus in New York. Designed by CannonDesign, the $106 million facility features state-of-the-art laboratories, active learning classrooms, and simulation suites to train the next generation of caregivers. The 70,000-sf building strategically collocates the School of Nursing with other allied health programs to promote interprofessional education, supported by flexible teaching venues where teams of students can work together.

The decreasing amount of time researchers spend in their labs is changing research facility design and space allocation, with an increased need for lab support space, a more significant reliance on core facilities, the creation of additional write-up and data analysis environments, and the purposeful inclusion of collaboration spaces.

The new Library and Learning Center at the Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) has transformed the school’s former library from a quiet place filled primarily with stacks of books into a welcoming and dynamic environment focused on providing students access to the resources needed to succeed academically. In addition to the library, the renovated facility includes the learning lab, which brings together tutoring support previously housed in three different locations, a student academic computing center, nine group study rooms, two academic classrooms, and a One-Button studio for video production. The number of computers available for student use throughout the entire facility has increased from 30 to 300, an important advantage for the many CCP students who do not own personal computers.   

Eli Lilly and Company opened the $700 million Lilly Seaport Innovation Center (LSC) in Boston in August of 2024. Developed by Alexandria Real Estate Equities and National Development, the 346,000-rsf facility offers Class A research environments for biomedical discovery. The 12-story structure also houses the first Lilly Gateway Labs on the East Coast to enable biotech start-ups to collaborate with Lilly scientists.

The University of Sheffield is planning to construct the £37 million Central Teaching Laboratory in the United Kingdom. Designed by Twelve Architects and BVN Architecture, the five-story, 85,000-sf facility will provide advanced instructional settings for the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Health. Two super labs accommodating 300 students will leverage extensive glazing to put science on display, complemented by specialized venues for tissue culture, anatomy, and applications requiring a fume hood.

The University of Kentucky began construction in spring of 2024 on the $781 million Cancer and Advanced Ambulatory Building in Lexington. Designed by Champlin Architecture and HGA, the 550,000-sf structure will serve as the new home for the Markey Cancer Center, the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the state. This pivotal project aims to streamline the delivery of care and improve health outcomes by consolidating outpatient clinics and oncology support services in a single integrated location.